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Temperatures are expected to be near 70 degrees on race day in and around Austin, Texas, for the United States Grand Prix.

U.S. Grand Prix at COTA visitors guide to Austin

November 12, 2012

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Heading to Austin, Texas, this week for the inaugural United States Formula One Grand Prix at the new Circuit of the Americas? Here are Autoweek's tips for how to best navigate the city and event, and to make the most of your experience in a new city.

Weather: Race day should be warm, with highs around 70, lows around 50 and enough wind to make it feel cooler. Bring a jacket or a sweater, as well as a lightweight poncho. Don't leave your sunglasses behind, either. And here's something to be aware of for anyone with allergies: Austin is the allergy capital of Texas.

Get Your Bearings: The Colorado River, also known as Lady Bird Lake, divides Austin north and south. Congress Avenue divides it east and west. North of Lady Bird Lake is downtown Austin. South of that is, er, South Austin (also known as SoCo, or South Congress Ave.).

Congress Avenue is often referred to as “the Main Street of Texas.” For F1 weekend, 11 square blocks of downtown will be closed to vehicular traffic to allow a variety of F1 related activities to take place.

Restaurants and Food: With more than 120,000 people expected, finding an open table will be a challenge. Austin's perennial No. 1 restaurant is Uchi and its sister, Uchiko. Downtown has a wide variety of national chains.

Two upscale local venues are the Driskill Grill in the Historic Driskill Hotel, and Trio at the Four Seasons. Other notables include III Forks Steak House, Lamberts Downtown Barbecue, Eddie V's Prime Seafood Restaurant and La Traviata. Or venture south of the river on South Congress Ave. for a variety of dining opportunities from Austin's most recognized food trucks.

Of course, this list is just a starting point, as you'll find no shortage of dining options suitable for all tastes and budgets.

Bars and Clubs: Austin's legendary 6th Street, the Warehouse District, the Central Business District and the Rainey Street Area are all located downtown—and all of these areas are easy walking distances from each other.

Traffic and parking will be extremely challenging throughout the entire weekend; we highly recommend using public transportation. One of the big question marks surrounding this inaugural event is just how nightmarish or relatively smoothly all the logistics will turn out, as no one has any previous experience of a race-weekend in Austin.

There will be taxis, limos, pedicabs and even a special bus route slated to run around downtown's perimeter. Three legendary Austin music venues are Antone's, the Continental Club and the Broken Spoke. Additionally, there will be free musical entertainment every evening at downtown Austin's Fan Fest. For more information on Austin's music scene, visit www.austinchronicle.com/calendar/music/

Shopping: The average age of an Austin resident is 30, so shopping tends to cater to that demographic downtown, in the new 2nd Street District and in SoCo. But there's a good variety of shops available for all ages in these areas. North of downtown, along MoPac (Route 1) is the Domain, which contains a number of ritzy stores. The Domain also has several very good restaurants. Another option is Barton Creek Mall.

Parking: Metered parking spots downtown feature a three-hour time limit, and parking for the downtown shuttle stop to the Circuit of the Americas may be difficult to find. The city assumes most people taking the shuttle to the track will choose to park at either the garages or in the surface parking lots, both of which will offer all-day parking, as opposed to the limited-hour meters. In any case, the earlier you arrive downtown, the better your chance of finding parking.

Make sure you allow plenty of extra time to find parking and to reach, board and ride the shuttle to the track. Race organizers estimate the transit time at 40 minutes; however, that doesn't include wait times for shuttles, boarding times or your walk from the shuttle stop at the track to your seat or viewing area, which could add an additional 15 to 20 minutes.

Bicycles: This is not a bad way to go. Seriously. The ride to the track is less than an hour and for the most part follows a well-marked route. While you will arrive at a guarded bicycle parking area near the circuit, but not at it, your shuttle ride from there should be much quicker and shorter. There will be a bicycle valet to take your bike.

Transportation: Staying downtown? We recommend traveling on foot to the various goings on. Arriving at the airport, you can get downtown by taxi or city bus. The city bus (the Airport Downtown shuttle/Route 100) is located on the lower level (arrivals/baggage) at the airport. However, the city may add an additional stop on the top level (departures), as well. For schedules, go to www.capmetro.org. Taxi rides cost approximately $25-$30 from the airport to downtown. There are approximately 750 taxicabs in the city of Austin, 250 limousines and 450 shuttles contracted to provide transportation to and from COTA.